Unlock the soul of North East England.
Northern Saints in Holy Places is your definitive guide to the region’s most powerful stories, sacred places, and legendary figures – from Aidan and Cuthbert to Bede, Oswald, and extraordinary women like Ebba, Grace Darling, and Josephine Butler.
Packed with vivid storytelling, a ready-to-follow nine-day pilgrimage route, and insider insights into castles, cathedrals, coastal sanctuaries, and hidden rural gems, this book delivers everything you need to experience one of Britain’s richest spiritual landscapes.
Whether you’re planning a journey or craving inspiration, Gavin Wakefield offers history with heart, spirituality with substance, and travel with unforgettable meaning.
Immerse yourself. Be inspired. Begin the pilgrimage.
The North East is a place to encounter God! Gavin Wakefield offers himself as a gentle companion and also as a good teacher as he invites us to explore this remarkable region and to become pilgrims. With clarity and subtlety of insight, he takes us deeper into the many ways God’s life has been lived in the North East by Christians through the centuries.
Alison White, former Bishop of Hull
Pilgrimage is increasingly recognized as an invaluable opportunity to slow down, focus on what really matters and be inspired by those who have walked the way of faith before us. This book is a brilliant introduction to a wide range of people and places from over 1400 years of remarkable history here in the North East. Highly recommended!
Philip Plyming, Dean of Durham
A guidebook is only engaging if the guide has walked the path with passion and joy, seeing the wider context and weaving the stories of people and places into their own story. This is what Gavin Wakefield does with skill and wisdom but with one further dimension – showing that these places and people are part of a much bigger story of how a loving God works through the particular and the ordinary to bring out the extraordinary.
David Wilkinson, Durham University
A superb introduction to the wonderful saints and sites of the North East where faith has flourished for centuries. Full of history, stories and practical details this book is an essential introduction and guide to the rich heritage of this beautiful region. Be inspired!
John Pritchard, former Bishop of Jarrow and former Bishop of Oxford
